TCM and The Film Society of Lincoln Center Celebrate
Style and Motion: The Art of the Movie Poster

An Evening with Jane Powell Hosted by Robert Osborne
Marks Official Opening, with Rare Screening of Two Weeks with Love

Special Exhibit of Classic Movie Posters from the Mike Kaplan Collection
To Run Through Jan. 1

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and The Film Society of Lincoln Center have joined forces to celebrate the art of the movie poster with a special exhibit of film posters from the collection of award-winning poster designer/creative director Mike Kaplan. An appreciation of the movie poster as both a work of art and a souvenir of the movie experience, Style and Motion: The Art of the Movie Poster is set to run through Jan. 1, 2012 in the Furman Gallery of The Film Society’s Walter Reade Theater in Lincoln Center. This is the first of a series of live events designed to build anticipation for the third-annual TCM Classic Film Festival, Style and the Movies, which will take place April 12-15, 2012, in Hollywood.

To mark the exhibition’s official opening, the Film Society and TCM will present a special evening with Jane Powell, one of Hollywood's most sparkling musical stars of the 1940s and '50s, whose classic films, Royal Wedding and Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, are represented in the exhibit by key European graphics. On Tuesday, Nov. 15, Powell will make a special personal appearance, joining TCM host Robert Osborne onstage to introduce a screening of Two Weeks with Love (1950), Powell’s personal favorite from among her many memorable film performances. The buoyant musical comedy, featuring choreography by the legendary Busby Berkeley, stars Powell as the eldest daughter of a New York family who blossoms into womanhood during a summer vacation in the Catskills. Ricardo Montalban, Phyllis Kirk, Louis Calhern, Ann Harding and an 18-year-old Debbie Reynolds also star. Songs include the show-stopping “Aba Daba Honeymoon,” “A Heart That's Free,” “Oceana Roll” and “By the Light of the Silvery Moon.”

While the motion picture is recognized as the most influential art form of the 20th century, the movie poster has seldom received the recognition it deserves. Perhaps because there are commercial needs that have to be considered in the conception – text in the form of slogans and credits – movie posters have been viewed by many as nothing more than a sidebar of popular culture. This exhibit is an opportunity to focus on a unique art form that has emerged despite its own complicated demands and structure.

Style and Motion features a diverse array of rare movie posters from The Mike Kaplan Collection, which is based primarily on a design aesthetic, although a film’s historical importance enters into the acquisition equation. Kaplan believes that art and illustration elevate the movie poster, which should be a microcosm of the movie itself, capturing with style and inventiveness the feeling one has after leaving the cinema.

Signature pieces in the exhibit include an original French release poster for An American in Paris (1951), previously owned by Gene Kelly; a young James Stewart prominently dancing with Eleanor Powell in Born to Dance (1936); arguably the best image of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in elegant evening attire in the French Carefree (1938); Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in master caricaturist Al Hirschfeld’s design for the rare American 40×60 of  Strike Up the Band (1940), plus vibrant pieces featuring Gene Autry, James Cagney, Jimmy Durante, Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, Audrey Hepburn, Ann Miller, Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Frank Sinatra, Marge and Gower Champion and Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Sweden, England and the United States are represented, with four images from Roger Soubie and Boris Grinsson, the most prolific French film poster artists, as well as works by Belgian artist WIK and Italian artist Nano, who designed the remarkable Italian poster for Singin’ in the Rain (1952). New York is the focus for three posters: On the Town (1949), the first musical to be filmed on Manhattan locations; West Side Story (1961), with the only poster to showcase Oscar-winners Rita Moreno and George Chakiris; and The Kid from Brooklyn (1946), from artist Bernard Lancy, with a wealth of inspired color in stone lithography of Danny Kaye and a bevy of chorines.

In his own career as a producer of The Whales of August and I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, as well as a director and distributor, Kaplan has collaborated with many artists on poster campaigns, including David Hockney (A Bigger Splash), Don Bachardy (Short Cuts), Allen Jones (Maitresse), John Van Hamersveld (Welcome to L.A.), MIchaele Vollbracht (Marlene) and most frequently British airbrush artist Philip Castle, with whom Kaplan worked on Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, voted the All-Time Best Film Poster by patrons of England’s Odeon Cinema Circuit. Most recently, Kaplan enlisted the popular caricature artist Andre Carillho for Never Apologize, Malcolm McDowell’s celebration of Lindsay Anderson.

TCM thanks Mike Kaplan for making the exhibit possible. A book of Kaplan’s work will be published by Reel Art Press in the near future.

About the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival
The third edition of the star-studded TCM Classic Film Festival will be held Thursday, April 12 – Sunday, April 15, 2012. TCM will welcome classic movie fans from around the globe for the four-day cinematic celebration. The central theme of the 2012 festival will be style in the movies, from fashion to architecture to production design. The theme will touch on both the influence that movies have on popular styles and the impact that current trends have on the movies.

TCM host and film historian Robert Osborne will serve as official host of the festival. TCM weekend daytime host Ben Mankiewicz will also host various events at the festival. The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, which has a longstanding role in movie history and was the site of the first Oscars® ceremony, will once again serve as the official hotel for the festival, as well as a central gathering point for attendees. Screenings and events will also be held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the Chinese 6 Theatres and the Egyptian Theatre.

Passes for the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival are slated to go on sale in November 2011. The Hollywood Roosevelt will also offer special rates for festival attendees. In the coming months, TCM will begin announcing films and special guests for the festival, along with updates on purchasing festival passes. Information about the 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival is available at http://www.tcm.com/festival.

About the Film Society of Lincoln Center
Under the leadership of Rose Kuo, Executive Director, and Richard Peña, Program Director, the Film Society of Lincoln Center offers the best in international, classic and cutting-edge independent cinema. The Film Society presents two film festivals that attract global attention: the New York Film Festival, and New Directors/New Films which, since its founding in 1972, has been produced in collaboration with MoMA. The Film Society also publishes the award-winning Film Comment Magazine, and for over three decades has given an annual award-now named “The Chaplin Award”-to a major figure in world cinema. Past recipients of this award include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. The Film Society presents a year-round calendar of programming, panels, lectures, educational programs and specialty film releases at its Walter Reade Theater and the new state-of-the-art Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from Royal Bank of Canada, 42BELOW, American Airlines, The New York Times, Stella Artois, the National Endowment for the Arts, WNET New York Public Media, the National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts. For more information, visit http://www.filmlinc.com.

About TCM
Turner Classic Movies is a Peabody Award winning network that presents great films, uncut and commercial free, from the largest film libraries in the world. Currently seen in more than 86 million homes, TCM features the insights of veteran primetime host Robert Osborne and weekend daytime host Ben Mankiewicz, plus interviews with a wide range of special guests. As the foremost authority in classic films, TCM offers critically acclaimed original documentaries and specials, along with regular programming events that include The Essentials, 31 Days of Oscar® and Summer Under the Stars. TCM also stages special events and screenings, such as the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood and the TCM Classic Cruise; produces a wide range of media about classic film, including books and DVDs; and hosts a wealth of materials on its website, http://www.tcm.com. TCM is part of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news; entertainment; animation and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.